Health Starts Where We Learn

Four insightful authors with unique experiences and perspectives have partnered with the portfolio to share their thoughts in original essays on how our health is impacted by where and how we live, learn, work and play. Each, in their own way, looks at the role that nonmedical factors play in where health starts—long before illness—in our homes, schools and jobs.

Live: Living Cities CEO Ben Hecht, an effective social entrepreneur, says “No environment is more influential on health than the home.”

Learn: Former Education Secretary and former South Carolina Governor Richard W. Riley says education can lead to a longer, healthier life. So we must start by improving the high school graduation rate in this country.

Work: Timberland CEO Jeffrey B. Swartz believes the relationship between our work and our health is critical, and business leaders and employees should view “work as a place of opportunity—a source of support, satisfaction and motivation.”

Play: National Institute for Play Director Stuart Brown, M.D., says that play shapes our brains, makes us smarter, more adaptable people and more empathetic.

Download and read the essays to learn more about the integral link between our health and where we live, learn, work and play.